Yomiuri Shimbun/Daily Yomiuri articles from May 2002

Yomiuri Shimbun/Daily Yomiuri archives from May 2002

Mayor held on graft charges in Chiba Pref. bidding scandal.
May 31, 2002... The Chiba District Public Prosecutors Office arrested Thursday the mayor of Kamagaya, Chiba Prefecture, on suspicion of accepting a 10 million yen bribe to help a construction company win a subcontract for a public works project in the...

World Cup finals kick off today.
May 31, 2002... SEOUL -- The world's greatest sports tournament opens here Friday at 8:30 p.m. It has taken 72 years and 16 tournaments since the first World Cup finals in Uruguay in 1930 for the event to arrive in Asia, but when France kicks off...

Yomiuri, Mitsukoshi set to buy Printemps Ginza.
May 31, 2002... Daiei Inc., a leading retail store chain operator, has agreed to sell its ownership in Printemps Ginza S.A., a department store in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, to The Yomiuri Shimbun, while Mitsukoshi Ltd., a major department store chain operator, will...

Judges delete judgment, delay court case.
May 31, 2002... A judgment due to be handed down in a bribery case at the Hachioji branch of the Tokyo District Court Wednesday was postponed to Monday after the judges mistakenly deleted their final statement minutes before the court session was to start....

2002 WORLD CUP: Prince Takamado talks with Kim.
May 31, 2002... SEOUL -- Prince and Princess Takamado held talks Thursday with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung on bilateral relations at the Blue House, the first time Imperial family members have talked with a South Korean president at his palace. ...

Minagawa, Inoue had close ties: Mayor reportedly held onto job for 19 years through friendships.
May 31, 2002... Keiichiro Minagawa retained his post as mayor of Kamagaya, Chiba Prefecture, for 19 years by maintaining close friendships with former House of Councillors President Yutaka Inoue, 70, and one of his secretaries, according to sources close to...

Gray matter a gray area for insurance evaluators.
May 31, 2002... TOTTORI -- What value do you place on a brain removed from the skull of an ancient woman? That is the question organizers of a special exhibition of artifacts in Tokyo are asking themselves. The brain, taken from a skull believed to...

Editorial: Leniency with Tanaka puzzling.
May 31, 2002... Is she aware of the importance of taxpayers' money? The Liberal Democratic Party has finally decided to discuss at the LDP's Party Ethics Committee whether former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka should be punished over her alleged misuse...

Rice planting yields cultural awareness.
May 31, 2002... Foreign diplomats and local residents gained hands-on experience of Japanese cultural and environmental issues when they jointly planted rice as part of the 2002 Come-Come Rice Forum for the Global Environment. The event was held May...

Courier lines up for mail service.
May 31, 2002... A major motorcycle and bicycle courier firm plans to enter the mail delivery business from April 2003setting it up to come the first private firm to enter the mail delivery service, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned Wednesday. Sokuhai Co.,...

Eto, Motoki bat Giants by Swallows.
May 31, 2002... Slumping Akira Eto and Daisuke Motoki hit two-run homers, powering the Yomiuri Giants to 7-5 victory over the injury-riddled Yakult Swallow at Tokyo's Jingu Stadium on Thursday night. Eto, who started the game on the bench, came on as a...

Sampaio: Selecao ready to samba again.
May 31, 2002... Byline: Duncan Castles, Daily Yomiuri Sportswriter Kashiwa Reysol midfielder Cesar Sampaio scored the opening goal at the France '98 World Cup finals, four minutes into the tournament's first match against Scotland at the Stade de France....

'Pixy' tips Brazil to take Cup By Duncan Castles.
May 31, 2002... SEOUL -- Asia's first World Cup will be the most efficiently organized World Cup ever and cohost Japan has every chance of reaching the second round of the tournament, says Yugoslav genius Dragan Stojkovic. Stojkovic, one of the great...

Tough task ahead for champs.
May 31, 2002... Byline: Duncan Castles, Daily Yomiuri Sportswriter SEOUL -- The last time France opened a tournament in South Korea, the hosts were destroyed 5-0, and Les Bleus went all the way to the final in Yokohama, where they lifted FIFA's gold...

Senegalese set for 'dream' match with French.
May 31, 2002... Byline: James Copnall, Special to The Daily Yomiuri SEOUL -- Senegal could not have hoped for a better first World Cup opponent than France. Not only will the opening game of the 2002 World Cup attract the attention of the entire...

2002 WORLD CUP / Prince Takamado talks with Kim.
May 31, 2002... 2002 WORLD CUP / Prince Takamado talks with Kim Hiroki Ando Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer Yomiuri SEOUL Prince and Princess Takamado held talks Thursday with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung on bilateral relations at the...

Editorial / Celebrate the beautiful game.
May 30, 2002... Editorial / Celebrate the beautiful game Yomiuri The much-anticipated monthlong soccer World Cup finals will finally kick off in Seoul on Friday with the opening match between France and Senegal. Eleven years have passed since...

Blatter easily wins 2nd term as FIFA president.
May 30, 2002... SEOUL -- Soccer's great political battle has been fought and Sepp Blatter is victorious. FIFA reelected Blatter as president of the sport's world governing body on Wednesday, rejecting the candidacy of Issa Hayatou after a bloody...

Prince, Princess arrive in Seoul for Cup opening.
May 30, 2002... SEOUL -- Prince and Princess Takamado arrived in Seoul on Wednesday to attend the opening ceremony of the soccer World Cup finals in South Korea, marking the first official visit to the country by Imperial family members since the end of...

130 volunteer guides deployed at Narita.
May 30, 2002... About 130 volunteer interpreters from Chiba Prefecture were deployed Wednesday at Narita Airport to assist tourists arriving to attend the soccer World Cup finals. The volunteers, who were recruited by the New Tokyo International Airport...

Zoologist's house given to trust.
May 30, 2002... KYOTO -- The home of late Kyoto University Prof. Taku Komai in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto, is to be donated to the Japan National Trust so the decaying structure can be restored. The trust said the Western-style house, designed by U.S. architect...

Ex-ambassador Togo to testify on scandal.
May 30, 2002... Former Japanese Ambassador to the Netherlands Kazuhiko Togo has notified the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office that he will submit to questioning over a breach of trust scandal involving government funds, sources said Tuesday. His...

Prado exhibition marks 400,000th visitor.
May 30, 2002... About 400,000 people have visited the exhibition "Masterpieces from the Prado Museum," held at the National Museum of Western Art in Ueno, Tokyo, since it opened in March. To commemorate the occasion, museum director Koichi Kabayama...

Diet OK's pacts on extradition, investment with South Korea.
May 30, 2002... The Diet on Wednesday approved a government proposal to ratify an extradition treaty between Japan and South Korea. The treaty was earlier approved by the House of Representatives. The Diet approval was finalized when a House of...

Island girl finds fame in big city.
May 30, 2002... "I want to go on singing for a long time. Like the old women of the island, I want to be a person who can enjoy singing from the bottom of my heart," said Hajime, whose latest CD was released last week and features the song "Kimi Omou"...

The Imperial Palace Garden Respite from the concrete jungle.
May 30, 2002... Situated in the middle of the metropolitan area near the major business district of Otemachi, the 21-hectare park, Kokyo Higashi Gyoen (Imperial Palace East Garden), contains a dense forest and several historic buildings. In an effort to...

MTV celebrates 1st year in Japan.
May 30, 2002... The paparazzi and celebrities were out in full force on Friday night at Tokyo International Forum to help MTV Japan celebrate its first anniversary. To mark the occasion, the music television network was hosting its first-ever awards...

World Cup mascots anime to debut next month.
May 30, 2002... A cartoon for television, featuring the Spherics--the mascots for the 2002 soccer World Cup finals--will be aired in Japan from next month. The cartoon has already begun airing weekly in South Korea on terrestrial TV stations. But in...

'Shaolin Soccer' scores in spite of Cup hype.
May 30, 2002... Shaolin Soccer (Shorin Soccer) (3 stars) Dirs: Stephen Chow, Lee-Lik Chee Cast: Stephen Chow, Vicki Zhao Wei, Ng Man Tat, Patrick Tse Yin Everyone from instant noodle companies to self-proclaimed "soccer-mad" TV personalities...

Bogin explores the corporate vs the human touch.
May 30, 2002... Bright colors; smooth, simplified shapes; surfaces so apparently flawless that they seem industrial--these are the formal elements of Greg Bogin's current exhibition, Getting to Know You, at the Ishizaka Art Gallery in Akasaka, Tokyo. ...

Suzuki and Nishijima battle it out on the dance floor.
May 30, 2002... Super Dance Battle 2 Art Sphere, Tokyo, May 23 What do you get when you pit a rather rotund heavy-footed entertainer with a large Afro against a slim, clean-cut ballet dancer? The answer: Super Dance Battle 2. Papaya Suzuki,...

A curiously arresting tale of a sword.
May 30, 2002... Susanoh: The Legend of Yggdrasillsword Akasaka ACT City, Tokyo, May 25 Bad is cool. Bad is exciting. At least that's the case in Shinkansen theatrical company's Susanoh: The Legend of Yggrasillsword, at Akasaka ACT Theater in Tokyo....

Zen-Ruffinen stunned by Blatter's popularity.
May 30, 2002... SEOUL -- The man who blew the whistle on Sepp Blatter's alleged mismanagement of soccer's finances has expressed his disappointment at the FIFA president's reelection as head of the sport's world governing body. In early May, FIFA...

Watanabe named to head Yomiuri holding company.
May 29, 2002... The existing group has three core companies--The Yomiuri Shimbun, based in Tokyo; The Yomiuri Shimbun, Osaka; and Yomiuri Inc., which manages the Yomiuri Giants baseball club, The Yomiuri Shimbun, Seibu, and The Yomiuri Shimbun, Chubu. ...

U.S. fund 'failed to report 18 billion yen'.
May 29, 2002... A real estate investment fund operated by the U.S. Morgan Stanley group was alleged by the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau to have failed to report about 18 billion yen in income from transactions involving land and property taken as...

Chiba man held over roommate's murder.
May 29, 2002... CHIBA -- A man was arrested early Tuesday morning on suspicion that he killed his roommate during a quarrel on the way home from drinking at a restaurant in Nosakamachi, Chiba Prefecture, police said. According to police, Kunio Tomura,...

Official avoids jail for 21.5 mil. yen scam.
May 29, 2002... The Tokyo District Court on Thursday sentenced former Foreign Ministry official Hiromu Kobayashi to 2! years in prison, suspended for five years, for swindling the government out of 21.5 million yen. Kobayashi, 46, and three others had...

Anami 'ordered report changed': Envoy allegedly said paper on China economy was 'too optimistic'.
May 29, 2002... BEIJING -- Japanese Ambassador to China Koreshige Anami allegedly instructed his staff at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing last month to revise their seemingly optimistic opinion expressed about the Chinese economy in a report, sources close...

IN THE NEWS: U.S. official stresses Fulbright's vital role.
May 29, 2002... Byline: Yumiko Miyai, Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer Patricia de Stacy Harrison has worn many hats--those of an entrepreneur, author and cochair of the Republican Party, to name a few. From Thursday through Sunday, she visited Japan in...

Musings for May 25.
May 29, 2002... This is a translation of the Henshu Techo column from The Yomiuri Shimbun's May 25 issue. -- Malawian Ambassador to Japan John Chikago seemed intrigued by the food that had been served to him. Pointing his finger at boiled and seasoned...

2002 WORLD CUP: World Cup a catalyst for fence-mending.
May 29, 2002... Byline: Fumiya Akagi, Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer The soccer World Cup finals are expected to provide a good opportunity for Japan and South Korea to patch up their relationship, which has long been soured by lingering problems over the...

Undelivered ticket fears rise.
May 29, 2002... The Japanese World Cup Organizing Committee (JAWOC) said Tuesday that foreign spectators might leave for Japan before their tickets reach them, causing possible confusion at match venues. JAWOC found that some tickets for World Cup final...

'World can't risk war in Kashmir'.
May 29, 2002... Byline: Shigefumi Takasuka, The Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer A U.S. expert on South Asia said the international community, including the United States and Japan, should play a mediating role to defuse tensions between India and Pakistan....

World Cup shot in arm for Korea Town.
May 29, 2002... OSAKA -- With just days to go before soccer's World Cup finals kick off, Korea Town in Ikuno Ward, Osaka, home to a large ethnic Korean community, is attracting people from across the country, including tourists and schoolchildren eager to...

Shiga woman set to become 3rd river queen.
May 29, 2002... KYOTO -- With just days to go before the start of the cormorant fishing season, Mariko Sawaki is preparing to make her official debut on the Ujigawa river in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture. Sawaki, 28, of Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, is only the...

Senegal.
May 29, 2002... Every World Cup throws up a great outsider, the overlooked team that knocks over a tournament favorite. This World Cup it just might be Senegal. Actually it's more a mark of world football's parochialism that the Senegalese are still...

Uruguay.
May 29, 2002... Two-time champion Uruguay was the 32nd and last team to qualify for the World Cup, defeating Oceania's Australia with a 3-1 aggregate playoffs win over Frank Farina's side. Victor Pua's team was forced into the playoffs with the...

Mexico.
May 29, 2002... Experience is not something lacking in the lineup as the Mexicans prepare for yet another World Cup challenge. But do they have what it takes to make an impact with an aging squad? The Mexicans struggled in the qualifyings and at one...

Ecuador.
May 29, 2002... This is the Ecuadorians' best chance yet of proving they are bona fide members of the South American club of footballing nations. Drawn in the same group as Italy, Croatia and Mexico, the first-time finalist can be certain of a baptism of...

Croatia.
May 29, 2002... Few people expect Croatia to hit the heights the eastern European nation achieved four years ago, when it finished third at its first-ever World Cup. But then, no one anticipated the Croatians would go so far in France last time around...

Italy.
May 29, 2002... Byline: Kazuya Nishida, Daily Yomiuri Sportswriter Christian Vieri returns for the Azzurri and Francesco Totti will make his World Cup debut. Can the duo lift Italy back to the top of the world? Both have already established...

Slovenia.
May 29, 2002... Underestimate Slovenia at your peril, the World Cup's smallest nation thrives on being overlooked. Yugoslavia and Romania--two nations with proud international records--aren't at Korea-Japan because they failed to treat the country of...

Paraguay.
May 29, 2002... Has Jose Luis Chilavert's flying phlegm doomed Paraguay to World Cup failure? The free-kick taking, penalty-kick scoring, goalkeeping figurehead of the Paraguayan team launched a mouthful of spit in the direction of Roberto Carlos after his...

Sweden.
May 29, 2002... Freddie Ljungberg has established a reputation as an accomplished wrestler following his training ground roll in the mud with Olof Mellberg. But the Swedish midfielder, in scintillating form for his club, Arsenal, this season, has yet...

Nigeria.
May 29, 2002... As always the Super Eagles World Cup flight path has been a little eventful. But then the World Cup finals just wouldn't be the same without Nigeria experiencing some kind of turbulence. First, there were the bribery claims that...

Brazil.
May 29, 2002... The wounds of defeat at France '98 went deep as the Brazilians were denied their fifth World Cup title. So what better way to heal them than to emerge from Korea-Japan 2002 as champion? And with its new three-syllabled attacking formula,...

Argentina.
May 29, 2002... Byline: Emiliano Rodriguez Argentina may be one of the favorites to lift this year's title but it is a nation in turmoil. And while success at the World Cup could be the fillip the nation needs to lift it out of the doldrums of financial...

China.
May 29, 2002... The Chinese may have the benefit of the globe's largest population cheering on them when they take on the world for the first time in June, but the 1.3 billion supporting from home will be able to do little for Bora Milutinovic's...

Turkey.
May 29, 2002... Back in the World Cup after a 48-year absence, Korea-Japan represents only Turkey's second finals appearance. Returning to the game's greatest stage is a fair reflection of the recent upsurge in Turkish football. Premier club Galatasaray...

Costa Rica.
May 29, 2002... "Yeah he loves it, he loves attacking." Costa Rica striker Winston Parks' succinct summary of coach Alexandre Guimaraes' football philosophy tells you that the Central Americans will not be coming to Korea-Japan to play a cagey game of...

Saudi Arabia.
May 29, 2002... Over the past two decades, Saudi Arabia has dominated the Asian football scene: Three Asian Cup victories, two second-place finishes in the regional championship and this, a third consecutive World Cup appearance, underline its place at the...

Germany.
May 29, 2002... Organized. Athletic. Efficient. The Teutonic stereotypes may have applied in the past, but the current German squad brings to mind a less familiar description--inconsistent. Winners in 1990, the Germans were knocked out by Bulgaria and...

Ireland.
May 29, 2002... Neither the vast array of Dutch forward talent nor the missiles raining down from the stands in Tehran could deflect the Irish from their road to Japan. However, having eliminated football aristocrats, the Netherlands, and survived an...

Portugal.
May 29, 2002... Byline: Nicholas McCormack The World Cup Korea-Japan 2002 could possibly be the tournament that Portugal's "Golden Generation" finally comes of age. A Zinedine Zidane golden-goal penalty for eventual winners France ended the chances...

Poland.
May 29, 2002... Poland's chances of reaching the second round rest squarely on the shoulders of Nigerian-born forward Emmanuel Olisadebe, who lifted Jerezy Engel's side out of Group 5 in European qualifyings to its first finals since Mexico '86. But...

France '98 Remembered.
May 29, 2002... Byline: Michael Church The sight of the Champs Elysees, packed with people as an open-topped bus carrying the French World Cup-winning team inched along the famous boulevard, is one of the most enduring images of France '98. The...

The hype & hot air.
May 29, 2002... When it was announced that the 2002 World Cup would be jointly hosted by Japan and South Korea in Zurich, six years to the day on Friday, there were just as many raised voices of dissent as there were high-arched eyebrows. How could two...

Do or die for Japan's midfield maestros.
May 29, 2002... Four years ago, they were both starting out. One was emerging as Japan's new leader; the other was just out of high school, having kicked off his professional career in the March before France '98. It's been almost four years since...

Stakes high as Korea goes after 1st win.
May 29, 2002... SEOUL -- By now barely a football fan the world over doesn't know that if either of South Korea or Japan fail to reach June 15's second round then that country will have besmirched the honor of cohosting Asia's first World Cup finals with...

Hong -- South Korea's captain fantastic.
May 29, 2002... Byline: Michael Church Six months ago it looked like Hong Myung Bo would miss out on his goal of competing in an Asian-record fourth World Cup finals. But when the South Koreans take to the field against Poland on June 4, the...

France.
May 29, 2002... Byline: Louis Chenaille France: Still on top, but with a slight sense of vulnerability. As the injuries and strains mount up after a punishing season, Les Bleus' chances of retaining their trophy hang in the balance. With Zinedine...

Tunisia.
May 29, 2002... Could Tunisia really be that bad? After all, the Tunisians did qualify for the finals, right? But the Northern Africans are threatening the dogma that there are no bad teams at the World Cup. With an unblemished qualifying campaign,...

Japan.
May 29, 2002... The June 4 game against Belgium at Saitama Stadium means everything, if not a lot, to Philippe Troussier and the Japan national team. Four years ago at France, the Japanese were defeated by Argentina 1-0 in their World Cup opener and...

POLITICAL PULSE: Koizumi should resolve political crises.
May 29, 2002... The public approval ratings for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration are continuing to slide. The most recently reported opinion polls showed that popular support rating for the Koizumi Cabinet had declined to the 30 percent...

Editorial: Okuda must rise to the challenge.
May 29, 2002... Tuesday marked the first major change in the organizational map of this nation's business circles. On the day, the Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) and the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations (Nikkeiren) formally...

Buybacks seen boosting stock prices.
May 29, 2002... Hopes are high in the equity market that stock prices may go up during and after this summer when many companies are expected to accelerate moves to buy back their own shares in a value-boosting bid. At one stage on Monday, the 225-issue...

Matsushita Electric determined to boost business in China.
May 29, 2002... Byline: 2005, Sugiura hopes to increase Matsushita's business in China--currently Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. is set to boost its business in China by utilizing various channels in a bid to survive accelerating competition in the...

2 days to kickoff.
May 29, 2002... Still a teenager, Russia's Marat Izmailov is ready to become the next Boy Wonder at Korea-Japan 2002. In the same mold as England's Michael Owen--1.72 meters, choirboy looks and blistering pace--19-year-old Izmailov is Oleg Romantsev's...

Being up front about Japan's weakness.
May 29, 2002... World Cup fever is finally here. Forget talk of the frustrating build up to the tournament kick off, after this weekend's matches at the National Stadium in Tokyo there can little doubt that the appeal of the world's biggest sports event has...

8th debate tourney to be held.
May 28, 2002... People of all nationalities are invited to take part in The Daily Yomiuri's Eighth Debate Tournament, which will be conducted in English. The topic will be "Resolved: That the Japanese government should significantly mitigate the restrictions...

Africa, terrorism top G-8 agenda.
May 28, 2002... Promoting support for development in Africa will be one of the major items on the agenda at a summit of leaders of the Group of Eight major powers to be held on June 26 and 27 in Kananaskis, Canada, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned Sunday. ...

Survey: Cabinet approval hits low.
May 28, 2002... The public's disapproval rating for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has exceeded its approval rating for the first time since the Cabinet was launched in April last year, the latest Yomiuri Shimbun opinion survey showed. ...

2 hooligan suspects detained at Narita.
May 28, 2002... The Tokyo Immigration Bureau's Narita Airport office has detained two 34-year-old British men suspected of being hooligans who traveled to Japan for the soccer World Cup finals, immigration officials said Monday. According to the...

Koizumi to hear refugee experts.
May 28, 2002... Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday that he would invite expert opinions on asylum-seekers and refugees, with the aim of using their advice to revise government policies on the issues. "We have to draw a clear line between...